Satellite Tracking 🛰

Introduction

March 21, 2026 - thanks for visiting the page today as more information was updated today, please stand by as there is more to come.

Thank you for installing the Satellite Tracking application for Windows 10 and 11.

The application features include:

• satellite tracking of spacecraft orbiting the Earth
• map viewing of satellites and orbits in 3D globe or 2D Mercator projections with Earth's sun shadow (gray line) plus satellite visibility plots
• radio control for Airspy SDR#, FlexRadio, Icom and compatible, Kenwood TS-2000, Yaesu FT-100, FT-736, FT-817, FT-818, FT-847, FT-991, FT-897, and FTX-1F radios
• rotator control for Yaesu, CSN S.A.T., SPID, iOptron (AZ Mount Pro), and compatible rotators both with direct and IP connect
• automatic daily updating of two line elemement (TLE) and orbital mean elements message (OMM) data sets
• profiles for band mode, frequency, and satellite
• automated satellite selection
• sun and moon trackable for earth-moon-earth (EME) communications and radio astronomy observations

The guide below is outlined as follows:

• Installation procedure and defaults
• Map page layout and control panels
• Settings details for map, radio, rotator, etc.
• more to come...

Installation

The Satellite Tracking application can be downloaded from the Microsoft app store - click the big "download from the store" button at the top of this page. After downloading and starting the application, several questions will be asked. We recommened selecting Yes or OK to all the questions for best use of the application.

Map Page

The map page, the main page of the application, displays the map and four panels of information. The panels are:

• Location Panel (on the left)
• Satellite Panel (on the top)
• Auto-tracking Panel (on the right)
• Radio Panel (on the bottom)

In addition, the following is presented:

• Location #1 edit field (to show a particular grid square or latitude longitude location)
• Location #2 edit field (to show an additional grid square or latitude longitude location) that when selected displays a great circle path between #1 and #2
• Search field to select a new satellite for tracking either by name or NORAD ID
• Menu icons to: Map Project, Spacecraft, Settings, sharing, documentation, app rating, support, orbit information, future pass listing, mutual window listing, profile editor, Keplerian listing, force reloading keps, DXCC enablement, sun orbit, Sky Locator, privacy policy, and restart of the application

Location Panel

The location panel, located on the left, displays the following information related to the users location, map projection, Keplerian data loading, calculation activity, and information about the Sun and Moon. In particular, you will find:

• Date (UTC/GMT based)
• Time (UTC/GMT based)
• Callsign (the name or callsign of the user given in Settings)
• Latitude (the user's latitude found by the Windows location service or specified by the user in Settings)
• Height (the user's height found by the Windows location service or specified by the user in Settings)
• Grid (the 6 character maidenhead locator of the user corresponding to the latitude and longitude)
• Location (denotes whether the Windows location service is being used or specified by the user)
• Projection (denotes whether a 3D Globe or 2D Mercator projection is being used which was selected in Settings)
• Map Style (denotes the currently specified map style being used which was selected in Settings)
• Map Zoom (the current zoom level of the map)
• Kep Load (denotes how many two-line-elements TLEs were loaded for tracking and how long this process took)
• Countdown (denotes how long until TLEs are automatically redownloaded from the internet)
• Activity (denotes the current operation being performed by the calculation thread)
• Sun Nadir (the location on the Earth where the Sun is directly above)
• Sun Az El (the direction to the Sun observed from the user in terms of azimuth and elevation)
• Moon Dec RA (the Moon's declination and right ascention)
• Moon Az El (the direction to the Moon observed from the user in terms of azimuth and elevation)
• Moon Distance (distance of the Moon from the user)

Some information is optional and can be selected to be turned on/off in Settings under the Show panel section.

Satellite Panel

The satellite panel, located at top, displays information about the primary satellite being tracked. In particular, the following details are shown:

• Satellite (the name of the satellite)
• Latitude (the latitude on the Earth of the satellite's sub-satellite-point)
• Longitude (the longitude on the Earth of the satellite's sub-satellite-point)
• Aziumth (the location of the satellite from the user's location in degrees from North as 0 degrees)
• Elevation (the location of the satellite from the user's location in degrees above the horizon)
• Height (the height of the satellite above the Earth)
• Range (the distance of the satellite from the user's position)
• Acquistion of Signal (AOS) or Loss of Signal (LOS) (the time to the next transition of receiving or losing the signal, also shown is the maximum elevation and at what azimuth)
• Keplerian Age (the age of the Keperian elements for the satellite given in days, hours, minutes, and seconds)
• Sun Longitude Match for Geo (for geosynchronous satellites, tells you when the satellites longitudal sub-satellite-point matches the user's longitude)

Some information is optional and can be selected to be turned on/off in Settings under the Show panel section.

Auto-Tracking Panel

The auto-tracking panel, located on the right, shows how many satellites are being tracked, the primary satellite, and enables auto-selection tracking of the satellites being tracked changing the one matching the criteria to be the primary satellite, fonts and field of view, and a few other items listed below. In particular, the auto-tracking panel contains:

• index and count (displays the number of satellites being tracked and which from an index perspective is the primary)
• satellite name pull-down (lists all the satellites being tracked and allows you to select a particular satellite as the primary to be tracked)
• + and - buttons (increases the index of the satellite being tracked making the the newly selected the primary satellite)
• Auto-select check box (when checked, auto-selects a particular satellite matching the Sort by criteria)
• Sort by (options are Elevation [highest], AOS Time [soonest], or LOS Time [latest])
• list of satellites (query results of the satellites being tracked per the Sort by criteria, maximum 10 or so shown)
• Aa+ Aa- font size (adjust the UI font size larger or smaller)
• F+ F- field value (adjust the field of view for Bing maps 3D Globe)
• Live ISS Video (opens or closes a video viewer for the International Space Station [ISS])
• In Browser (opens an ISS video viewer in a new browser window)
• Satellite Visibility Plot checkbox to show the plot

Some information is optional and can be selected to be turned on/off in Settings under the Show panel section.

Satellite Visibility Plot

The Satellite Visibility Plot checkbox, when checked, displays the plot in the middle of the application. This plot is very useful to visually show a satellites position in the sky (space) from your location and the path that will be taken. The following items are displayed on the plot:

• four red circles where the outter most denotes the horizon at 0° degrees elevation, two interior circles denoting 30° and 60° degrees elevation, and center denoting 90° straight up
• azimuthal lines every 22.5° degrees
• antenna location (denoted by the red circle 🔴 in the middle)
• satellite (denoted by the satellite icon)
• acquisition of signal (AOS) denoted by the green circle 🟢
• loss of signal (LOS) denoted by the orange circle 🟠
• 1st upcoming pass denoted by the thickest orange line
• 2nd pass denoted by the medium orange line
• 3rd pass denoted by the thinest line

If the satellite is physically above the horizon, the satellite icon will be shown within the circles and the location will map to the azimuth and elevation of the satellite. If the satellite is below the horizon, the satellite will be outside of the outter most circle.

For example in the following plot the AOS is at about 216° with an LOS at about 30° azimuth. Currently, the satellite is at 215° azimuth and 50° elevation. The next two passes are west of this current pass.

By default, the background is slightly transparent but you can specify it to be completely black in Settings.

Radio Panel

The radio panel, located on the bottom area, allows you to start sending commands to your radio and rotator. The panel also shows which profile is selected and information about the uplink and downlink frequencies being adjust with doppler adjustments. In particular, you will find for the radio:

• Start button (starts sending CI-V or CAT commands to the radio)
• Stop button (stops sending commands to the radio)
• Pause Commands checkbox (when checked, pauses the app from sending CI-V commands to the radio. When unchecked, the app sends CI-V commands to the radio automatically.)
• Transponder Tracking checkbox (get hover-over text)
• Rig (denotes the row of information for the receiver [RX], transmitter [TX], and antenna rotator [AR])
• Model (denotes the model of radio selected for each rig)
• Address (denotes specific address commands are being sent to)
• Port (denotes which serial or IP port to send commands through)
• Serial Config (shows the baud rate, data bits, stop bits, parity, and handshake being used)
• Connection (shows the connection status of the port)
• Written (shows the number of bytes written to the port)
• Read (shows the number of bytes read from the port)
• Configuration (shows the internal definition of how the radio(s) work together)
• Config Msg (shows general message about the code path taken)
• Slide bar (allows you to adjust the passband frequency)

For the rotator:

• AZ= EL= (shows current azimuth and elevation of the rotator)
• Start button (starts sending commands the rotator)
• Stop button (stops sending commands to the rotator)
• Get Pos button (sends a get position to the rotator)
• Warm-up At pull-down (rotator starts moving in to position when the satellite is at this elevation)
• Move Every pull-down (rotator's position is updated whenever the specified degree value is met)

For the profiles and frequencies:

• Profile pull-down (lists the available profiles defined for the satellite)
• f delta delay (updates the radio with new frequencies when this amount of seconds passes)
• Relative Velocity (the relative velocity of the satellite from the perspective of the user)
• TX (shows the current transmitter passband frequency including XIT)
• TX buttons (adjusts the XIT frequency by 10K, 5K, 1K, 100, or 10 Hz increments)
• Doppler delta (the amount of doppler for the transmit frequency)
• TX Tune (the actual frequency sent to the transmit radio)
• RX (shows the current receiver passband frequency including RIT)
• RX buttons (adjusts the RIT frequency by 10K, 5K, 1K, 100, or 10 Hz increments)
• Doppler delta (the amount of doppler for the receive frequency)
• RX Tune (the actual frequency sent to the receive radio)
• Transponder (denotes if the transponder is inverting or normal)
• Modulation (shows the type of modulation being used)
• Identifier (if any, shows the satellite's identification callsign)

Some information is optional and can be selected to be turned on/off in Settings under the Show panel section.

f Δ Delay

The f Δ Delay value is stored per satellite and is the time, in seconds, between each frequency update to the radio. 10 seconds is the default value. Decrease the value to make changes more often or increase to make the changes less often. For FT4 usage, select 0 so changes happen as quickly as possible to the radio and use 19200 baud rate. You can see the time taken at the bottom of the screen with milli-second (ms) denotation between iterations. Note: using 0 disables RX command decoding.

RX Passband Slide Bar

The slide bar adjusts the RX passband frequency (and TX passband frequency if Transponder Tracking is enabled) of the radio per the profile's center frequency and transponder uplink to downlink direction (reverse or normal). When controlling your radio, move the slide bar to left to reduce the RX frequency and to the right to increase the frequency. For finer tuning use the mouse scroll wheel for 100 Hz step changes. This is particularly useful for linear satellites where you need to find another user's downlink frequency quickly. As you move, the uplink will be properly adjusted depending upon if the satellite is a reverse or normal type transponder. Further RIT (receiver incremental tuning) adjustments can be made using the RIT buttons. Hint: set the Frequency Δ Delay value to a small value such as 0 for fastest tuning results.

Settings

The Settings page can be reached via the shown Settings menu button and is where you can view, specify, and configure:

• Application version and upgrade
• Globalization details
• Application add-ons
• Callsign or name
• Maps
• Center map on
• Location Override
• Show items and panels
• Radio control setup
• Rotator control setup
• Keplerian element data load
• Application debug messages
• Last commands sent to devices

Satellite Tracking Application Version

This section displays the following:

• the current application version
• the version of Windows being run
• the date and time the application was installed and how many days have elapsed

Click the Copy button to quickly copy this information to your clipboard.

With the Check for Application Updates button, you can query if any application has updates available and initiate the upgrade, if so desired.

Globalization details

This section shows your regional settings that you have set for the operating system and will be used while using the application:

• whether or not metric is used, e.g. True
• home geographic region, e.g. US
• current culture, e.g. en-US
• UI culture, e.g. en-US
• decimal separator, e.g. “.”
• group number separator, e.g. “,”

Application Add-ons

There are four subscription add-ons: Demo, Enthusiast, Amateur Radio Operator, and Business

And, there are two flavors of add-ons: durable (one-time purchase with limited maps) and subscriptions (monthly or yearly with all maps featuring Cesium)

The Demo add-on provides a free 21-day trial so you can test all features of the application: satellite tracking, maps, radio control, and rotator control.

After the 21-day trial, the Enthusiast add-on enables continued usage of satellite tracking and maps, but no radio or rotator control.

If you require usage of radio and/or rotator control, the Amateur Radio Operator add-on is best suited and enables satellite tracking, maps, radio control, and rotator control.

The Business add-on is required for commercial users and enables all features as the Amateur Radio Operator add-on. If you so desire, purchasing this add-on best supports the developer and our hobby.

In the case you have bought a one-time durable add-on that uses just the basic built-in equidistant map, but then decided you want to use Cesium maps, purchase one of the Orbital Club add-ons to enable Cesium. Cesium is a service so this functionality needs to be associated with a subscription.

In the application's Setting page, click on the desired add-on check-box to purchase and enable the add-on. Below the list of four add-ons you will see some text showing which one you currently have, e.g. “You have the following add-ons: AmateurRadioOperator_Subscription_Yearly”

Each add-on has a one-time or subscription purchase available according to your needs - here is a table summarizing:

	Demo	Enthusiast	Amateur Radio Operator	Business
one-time durable classic (no longer available)	test all features for 21 days	✅ track satellites ❌ radio/rotator ❌ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ❌ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ❌ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map
one-time durable basic	test all features for 21 days	✅ track satellites ❌ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ❌ Cesium map
monthly subscription	test all features for 21 days	✅ track satellites ❌ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map
yearly subscription	test all features for 21 days	✅ track satellites ❌ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map	✅ track satellites ✅ radio/rotator ✅ basic built-in equidistant map ✅ Bing map* ✅ Cesium map
Orbital Club monthly subscription to enable Cesium maps with one-time durable and/or to support the developer and hobby	-	✅ enables Cesium map (🪐) ✅ support developer	✅ enables Cesium map (🪐🪐) ✅ support developer	✅ enables Cesium map (🪐🪐🪐) ✅ support developer

* According to Microsoft, Bing map services may be discontinued at anytime after June 2025. fyi, the Cesium map is the best looking.

Callsign or Name

Enter your name or callsign in the edit field. The entered text will be shown on the map page in the left-hand panel.

Maps

This section details the types of map, styles, and size available to show. Currently, there are 3 different maps available. Both mapping solutions allow 3D globe and 2D mercator projections.

• Cesium (supporting 2D mercator and 3D globe)
• Bing (supporting 2D mercator and 3D globe)
• Built-in basic equidistant 2D map

The Cesium map is available with 3D globe and 2D mercator projections showing:

• Sentinel-2 cloudless imagery
• 10m to 60m resolution
• Earth shadow from Sun
• City lights
• gray line

Bing maps supports 6 different styles at the moment, but note that on June 30, 2025, as previously announced by Microsoft in 2024, some Bing map styles may be discontinued at any moment.

The following Bing map styles are available both with the globe and mercator projections:

• aerial
• aerial with roads
• road dark
• road high contrast dark
• road high contrast light
• road light

The built-in basic map is a equidistant 2D map that works even when there is no internet connection. The Cesium and Bing maps require internet connectivity.

Here are the selectable map settings:

The application allows an inset Cesium be shown, so you can have a small Cesium globe in addition to a Bing mercator, or globe if desired.

Note that Cesium runs best if you have a graphics processing unit (GPU), especially when the globe is used at high resolution.

The following Cesium map sizes are available both with the globe and mercator projections:

• None (not shown)
• Small (500x500px in the upper left)
• Full (size of the app and the Bing map does not show)

Another example here with Cesium chosen with the Full option (shown with a 2560 x 1368 pixel app layout):

Here is what the basic flat map looks like in action tracking AO-7 as the primary satellite:

Center Map On

The Cesium and Bing maps can be centered on the following items:

• satellite (for the primary satellite, the map keeps the satellite in the middle of the map as the latitude and longitude change)
• equator and longitude (the map is centered at 0 degrees latitude and moves along the satellite’s longitudinal position)
• equator ad prime meridian (the map is always positioned at 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude)
• user (the map is centered wherever the user’s position is currently at or entered in in the Location section)
• none (with this setting, you can freely move the map around as you desire as the satellites orbit the Earth)

The basic built-in equidistant map is stationary and does not move around to support these settings.

Location Override

The application requires a fixed latitude, longitude, and altitude to correctly calculate your azimuth and elevation to satellites. By default, the application uses the Windows location service which finds your location via GPS, IP, or wifi indicators. During installation you are requested for permission to enable this feature. If you deny the use of the Windows location service, you can enter your specific location with the provided latitude, longitude, and altitude edit fields.

With the switch in the left position, the application uses the Windows location service:

With the switch in the right position, you can enter your specific latitude, longitude, and altitude:

Show

This section allows you to enable or disable various useful items displayed on the map, notifications, etc. as you so desire.

UTC Date Time

When checked, the applications shows date and times in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format. UTC is the global standard time reference kept within 0.9 seconds of mean solar time at 0° longitude using atomic clocks. UTC replaces GMT and is the basis for all time zones. Otherwise, local date and times are shown.

Metric

When checked, displays distances in kilometers; unchecked, the implerial measurements system is used with miles

Equator

When checked, displays a line around the equator.

Date Line

When checked, displays a line at the common date line at 180° West and 180° East longitudes.

Prime Meridian

When checked, displays a line at the prime meridian at 0° longitude also know as the Greenwich Meridian.

Antenna Direction

When checked, displays a blue line from the specified user's location to the satellite.

Geosynchronous Satellites

When checked, performs a one-time position location for each satellite and then displays the location on the map. In general, geosynchronous satellites do not move much, so continual calculations are not required. If you do desire to track the movement, add the satellite to the list of tracking satellites.

DXCC Countries

When checked, displays all the DXCC countries on the map. Pin locations are typically located on the capital of the country.

Moon and Sun Footprint

When checked, a white line is shown delineating the moon's footprint and a orange line is shown delineating the sun's footprint on the Earth.

Elevated Satellite and Future Orbit Line

When checked, the satellite icon and future orbit lines are elevated about the Earth. This is most useful when using the globe map projections for best visual display of orbits and distances.

Number of Future Orbits to Display

The number selected specifies how many orbits of the future orbit line will be shown on the map.

Footprint Only For Primary Satellite

When checked, only the primary satellite's footprint will be shown. This is useful when tracking a lot of satellites and the display becomes too busy.

Show Notifications

When checked, a small notification is displayed in the lower-right corner of the computer screen when a satellite enters your horizon or exits.

Play Notification Sound

When checked, the specified sound chime plays when notifications are given.

Sound Pull-Down

Specifies the exact sound to play for notifications. Seven common chimes are available.

Night-time viewing - Display Umbra and Penumbra

When checked, the umbra (the fully shaded inner region of a shadow cast by an opaque object, especially the dark central cone during a solar eclipse where the Sun is completely obscured) and penumbra (the partially shaded outer region of a shadow, where only part of the light source is obscured) are shown on the Earth (Cesium map only) opposite of the illuminated side of the Earth. The umbra and penumbra are shown to 50,000 Km in distance from the Earth.

Notification when satellite enter and exit twilight

When checked, a notification is given announcing that the satellite is in-view above your horizon, the Sun is < -1° degrees, and that the satellite is illuminated. This is the desired time for you to begin to see satellites at night. When the satellite is no longer illuminated or the Sun has risen again, you will get another notification. Be sure to have the Show Notifications feature checked.

Panel Information

The application has four panels on the main map page organized as follows and each section has configurable selections:

• Satellite information (top panel)
• Radio, rotoator, and profile (bottom panel)
• Date and time, user location, sun, and moon (left panel)
• Primary satellite (right panel)

While each panel permanently shows specific information, some details can be configured to be shown or not. See below for each areas optional items.

Panel Transparency (all panels)

When checked, panels are transparent and show the map in background ever so slightly. If unchecked, the panel background color is black.

Satellite information (top panel)

When checked, shows the top panel on the map screen.

Sun Time Matching Geo Satellite

When checked, if the primary satellite is a geostationary satellite, this column denotes the time that the satellite is in the same longitudal position as the satellite. This is good to know for observing if any obstructions are at the same longitude as the satellite and times that satellite television reception may be affected. Reminder: never look directly at the Sun.

Radio, rotoator, and profile (bottom panel)

When checked, shows the bottom panel on the map screen.

Left Center Right

Select the general location of the bottom panel. Some people want the panel located on one of the sides rather than the center, in case wanting to view the Earth more on the map.

Rig

When checked, this column displays wether the device is the receiver (RX), transmitter (TX), or rotataor (AR).

Model

When checked, displays the name of the radio or rotator, e.g. IC-9700

Address

When checked, displays the address of the receiver, transmitter, or rotator. Note some devices do not have an address.

Port

When checked, displays the port information of the receiver, transmitter, or rotator on your computer, e.g. Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COM5) or just COM11

Serial Config

When checked, displays the port settings for the receiver, transmitter, or rotator, e.g. 9600,8,One,None,None

Connection

When checked, displays the connection status, e.g.: COM5 (green text is good), Using RX channel, Port disconnected

Written

When checked, displays the number of bytes in the last command and total sent to the device, e.g.: 6, 150

Read

When checked, displays the number of bytes in the last command and total read from the device, e.g.: 7, 250

Configuration

When checked, displays the type of relationship the receiver and transmitter have, e.g.: RadioSupportsBothRXAndTXAndSatMode

Config Msg

When checked, displays the applications set-up procedure result for the radios and rotators.

Channel Text

When checked, displays low-level commands being sent to the radios and rotators via the read and write threads.

Relative Velocity

When checked, displays the relative velocity of the satellite from your position, e.g.: 4,642.8 m/s (receeding)

TX Doppler

When checked, displays the amount of doppler shift for the ground radio transmitting to the satellite, e.g.: 1,334 (Hz)

RX Doppler

When checked, displays the amount of doppler shift for the ground radio receiving a signal from the satellite, e.g.: -3,683 (Hz)

Transponder

When checked, displays the transponder's conversion method, e.g.: Normal (NOR) or Reverse (REV)

Modulation

When checked, displays the modulation information related to the satellite transmission, e.g.: FM 5W 67.0Hz tone

Identifier

When checked, displays the satellites callsign, e.g.: RS0ISS or NA1SS (for the international space station)

Date and time, user location, sun, and moon (left panel)

When checked, shows the left-hand panel on the map screen.

Location

When checked, displays the location service's location origin and count of updates or a specified by the user, e.g.: Satellite (or Cellular or WiFi etc.), 112 or user-specified

Location Service

When checked, displays the location service's status, e.g.: ON and ready

Projection

When checked, displays the map's type of project, e.g.: globe or mercator

Map Style

When checked, displays the map's style type, e.g.: RoadDark

Map Zoom

When checked, displays the map's zoom value, e.g.: 2

Activity

When checked, displays the position calculation thread's sequence value, e.g.: 9e

Primary satellite (right panel)

When checked, shows the right-hand panel on the map screen.

Satellite Visibility Plot

When checked, displays the Satellite Visibility Plot in the middle of the screen.

Black Background

When checked, display's the Satellite Visibility Plot's background as black rather than transparent.

Radio Control Setup

The Satellite Tracking application was originally designed for the ICOM IC-9700 and now supports several other brands and models. Follow the seven steps described below in Settings to configure and test the radio control for your radio(s).

Step 1

Connect your ICOM, CI-V compatible, SDR# and device, or other supported radio(s) to your computer and install any necessary cables and software drivers.

SDR# is supported as a software define radio and supports the standard USB, LSB, CW etc as well as RAW for QPSK modulation used by some weather satellites. Do these additional steps...

Step 2

Click the Refresh Serial Device List button to initiate the scan process. Two diff Then, click the Refresh Serial Device List button to start the scan process.

Step 3

Recieve Radio (RX)

Select your receive (RX) in the radio pull-down, e.g. the Icom IC-9700. For Icom radios the default CI-V address will be displayed in parenthesis next to the model name. In the case of the IC-9700, you will see (A2). Then select the address you actually want to use in the address pull-down, e.g. with the IC-9700 this will be A2.

Next, select the serial communications port that is available that the application and computer will use to communicate to the radio. The port and description pull-down will include ports found (or virtual ports defined) from Step 2 above.

Now, select the baud rate, data bits, stop bits and parity required for your radio. The application knows the typical default values for different brands of radios and will suggest these values. Adjust the values as desired and required by your radio.

Transmit Radio (TX)

Now, select your transmitter (TX) in the radio pull-down, e.g. the Icom IC-9700. For Icom radios the default CI-V address will be displayed in parenthesis next to the model name. In the case of the IC-9700, you will see (A2).

Pro tip: for radios that support satellite mode, you will want the address and communications serial port to be the same. The application knows which radios support this mode and will turn on satellite mode. If your radio does not support satellite mode or you actually have two satellite mode radios you want to operate separately, you likely will have the address and/or communications serial port defined differently.

Then select the address you actually want to use in the address pull-down, e.g. with the IC-9700 this will be A2.

Next, select the serial communications port that is available that the application and computer will use to communicate to the radio. The port and description pull-down will include ports found (or virtual ports defined) from Step 2 above.

Now, select the baud rate, data bits, stop bits and parity required for your radio. The application knows the typical default values for different brands of radios and will suggest these values. Adjust the values as desired and required by your radio.

Pro tip: if you do not have a transmitter, select the None radio name.

Step 4

Press the Connect to the Radio(s) buttons to have the application connect to the radio via the specified serial communications ports.

If an error occurs, you will see a message denoting the issue.

If the connection is successful, you will be ready to click on the test buttons in following steps. And, you will see Status and detailed information about what parameters the port was opened with.

When you want to disconnect from the radio(s), click the Disconnect from the Radio(s) buttons.

Step 5

For Icom radios, turn the frequency know to verify data can be received and decoded in the Channel A and/or Channel B areas which show how many bytes were read from the radio and details about the decoded data.

Step 6

In this step, there are several different radios listed with test buttons to help verify the application can properly control the radio.

At top is a section for Icom and compatible radios. And following, a selection of Yaesu, Kenwood, and FlexRadio radios are available – give it a try !

Following the buttons section, there are some technical things about the application’s threads and channels. This is a good area to look at how the commands are being queued up, sent, and read back with the application.

Lastly, there is a section for testing with plugin for Airspy SDR#.

After you have tested your radio(s) with the buttons and they work, you can proceed back to the main page and click the Start button in the lower Radio panel. At this point, tracking should work.

If you do run into a problem, go to Settings and check the Channel Text option and go back to the main map page and you will get more debug output about the threads and channels. This will be useful for debugging.

Step 7

At this point, you can go back to the main app page (be sure to have the bottom panel display checked on above). Then, click the radio Start button.

Rotator Control Setup

More to come.

Keplerian Element Data Load

More to come.

Application Debug Messages

More to come.

Last Commands Sent To Devices

More to come.

Troubleshooting

App hang after connecting to a serial port - some Windows serial drivers seem to have a regression when the serial port is opened. The workaround for this is to use only the short-style com port name, e.g. COM5, in all associated port areas for that device. By doing this, the application will use the older serial APIs which do not have any issue.